Dear reader, I must make a confession to you before we proceed any further. When I arrived at the Ryman Auditorium with my family in tow, my intent was not to spend huge swaths of my afternoon considering ways I can help my kids actualize their dreams. Nor was my plan to reflect on the horror a middle aged person must feel upon realizing he never took the first steps needed to bring a dream into existence. While I am pouring out my confessions to you, it was never my ambition to feel sadness for those who chose safe paths and quit on dreams too soon. However, inside that stately brick building on a chilly December morning, that is exactly what happened.

Matilda knows how to say “howdy” properly after her visit.

There’s something very democratic about the Ryman. No skyboxes or VIP section. Everyone sits shoulder to shoulder with their neighbors.

The woodwork reflects over a hundred years of audiences passing through.

In all honesty, my motivations for visiting the Ryman were probably the same as many other life long music fans. Seeing cases full of memorabilia from the theater’s past would have been fine for me. I was hoping to lay eyes on Hank William’s handwritten lyrics to “Your Cheatin' Heart” and to point out Dolly Parton’s shiny dress to my daughter. Maybe, I would be able to take a look at Johnny Cash’s ostrich skin boots. For those with similar goals, I am happy to report the good people in charge of the Ryman were able to deliver on all counts.

It hasn’t just been the home of Country music.

Hank Williams’ hand written lyrics to Your Cheatin’ Heart.

However, within that old church, I encountered an experience that was not in any of the guidebooks. After a multimedia presentation that established the Ryman’s importance in making Nashville the music city, we were free to wander through the theater on a self-guided, self-paced tour. While sitting on one of those well-worn wooden pews, a thought occurred to me. If a person ever needed evidence that dreams can come true, the Ryman is it. To walk through its doors is to realize all that is possible if a person does the work to see one through.

The Ryman as it was originally envisioned.

The theater itself was nothing more than a dream in the late 1890’s when Captain Tom Ryman had a spiritual conversion at a tent revival. His ambition was to build it so that others hear the words of Reverend Sam Jones. A hundred years later, its preservation was nothing more than a dream after it was left standing empty and dilapidated. Yet, Emmylou Harris had the vision and the drive to rally the community to renovate and reopen the Mother Church of Country Music. Not to mention that this was the home of the Grand Ole Opry for thirty years. It was here that on a Saturday night, aspiring singers were able to step out onto stage and have America hear their voices for the first time. To sit in that old church is to feel the potency of a person with a dream and is willing to put the work in to make it an actuality.

Jacque being nonchalant in the presence of Louis Armstrong’s trumpet and Johnny Cash’s boots.

As someone who arrived at parenting somewhere near the end of the second act, I have witnessed the dead eyes of those who quit on a dream too soon. There is a danger in arriving at middle age with a “what if” in your heart. That is something I would never want my own kids to feel. As soon as my daughter could articulate a thought, she made it very clear that her ambition is to be a singer when she grows up. While it’s a fairly common career aspiration for a seven year old girl to have, she has been so persistent about her vision of the future that as a parent, I feel it is my responsibility to feed the fire inside of her. What was affirmed to me in the Ryman auditorium is that if she believes in the beauty of her dream, and if she puts in the work to achieve it, she can turn a possibility into an actuality. She has the potential to fulfill a dream, just like all those who stepped out onto this stage before her.

The Mother Church of Country Music stands just a few blocks off of Broadway in downtown Nashville. With an Old Town Trolley Tour stop right out front, the good people of Nashville could not have made it more accessible to tourists like yours truly.

This post was based on a visit to the Ryman Auditorium on December 27, 2019

Ryman Auditorium

116 5th Ave N.

Nashville, TN 37219

615 889-3060

Interested in taking a trip to Tennessee? Don’t miss out on the Adventure Science Center or Rock City. Interested in finding out more about the Ryman’s history? Make sure to watch Ken Burns Country Music and look at the timeline in the Ryman’s website.

While I do not have the resources required to back a major longitudinal study into children’s entertainment, I am equipped with a pretty good imagination. In my imagination, I would commit a significant amount of money as well as the energy of the world’d finest finest scientists and statisticians. In a carefully crafted study, I would have them look into entertainment aimed at kids. Surfacing after years in a lab, my dream team of people in white lab coats would stand front and center in an auditorium, eager to present their findings to the world. Supported by volumes of research and a nice looking pie chart, they would share the following.

Matilda ready to take a look at something that wasn’t created by marketers.

After careful analysis, there appears to be three distinct types of kids’ entertainment. The first type can best be described as god awful and doesn’t really need to be mentioned. As a parent, you know it when you see it. Thankfully, this subsection accounts for a very small sliver of the pie chart. The second type begins somewhere around Ryan’s World unboxing videos and ends at anything the Disney Corporation has produced in the last twenty years. While it’s not total garbage, it’s the spiritual equivalent of sugar. Completely devoid of imagination and creativity, all the offerings in this category amount to little more than extended commercials for some crummy product. The sole purpose of this material is to turn our dear ones into little consumers. Unfortunately, it also occupies the lion’s share of the pie chart and commands a lot of attention.

Disney Plus has nothing as good as this.

Thankfully, there is a third type of offerings. Far superior to the competition, this style of entertainment requires a little more effort to find. Far from commercial, this group accomplishes what the rest of the field isn’t even courageous enough to attempt. The good people responsible for the creations in this category treat children intelligently and feed their natural curiosity about the world. After a recent visit, I am glad to report that The Adventure Science Center falls solidly in this third group. It’s an interactive museum just outside downtown Nashville that stands in stark contrast to the majority of offerings engineered to capture kids’ attention. As I saw firsthand, It’s a place fills kids with wonder instead of treating them like empty headed rag dolls.

It was either a milk snake or a corn snake. Matilda would remember.

The Adventure Science Center accomplishes their noble mission by allowing kids to explore scientific phenomenon through play. The museum is divided into several major exhibit areas that each break into dozens of smaller activities. From the Body Quest area where kids can explore human anatomy, to the Sound Box where kids get to make music, there is going to be something fun and engaging for even the most app enabled soul. Make sure that your youngsters are dressed to play because in the Wonders of the Universe area there is an opportunity to strap in and experience the challenge of movement in a near weightlessness environment. In addition to that, there will be plenty of climbing thanks to a seventy-five foot structure known as the Adventure Tower. Full of ladders, slides, ramps, and spiral staircases, it was precisely the kinds of energy burner we were looking for.

Matilda cutting a track in the Sound Box.

The Adventure Science Center has been teaching kids about the natural world for close to seventy-five years and they do it right. Clearly, donors, sponsors, and employees care deeply about the place and its potential impact on kids. The 44,000 square foot facility resides in Negley Park and is a must do for any family passing through town. If you plan on visiting, leave plenty of time in the schedule to explore. While I estimated we would only be an hour, we ended up being there more than three. That was without visiting the gardens or the planetarium. While they do have a Subway, patrons are free to pack their own lunches and enjoy the view of the Nashville skyline from the lunchroom.

A rare photo from the trip where Jacque is actually looking at the camera.

This entry was based on a visit to Adventure Science Center on December 26, 2019.

Interested in other experiences that will keep kids away from their phones for the day? When in Utah, check out Dreamland Safari’s Ultimate Kanab Tour. If you happen to find yourself in Las Vegas, take a ride out to The Valley of Fire State Park. In Los Angeles, take a look at The Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

Adventure Science Center

800 Fort Negley Blvd.

Nashville, TN 37203

615 862-5160